The challenge starts tonight... and I still haven't decided what mine will be.

I decided to start my challenge a few hours early, since I was excited.

My theme is going to be a red band trailer challenge: only movies that are rated R. That will allow me to keep chipping away at my unwatched pile.


I recently watched a movie called "Undertow" (2009) from South America which was really good. If you haven't seen it I would recommend it, but don't watch the trailer or read too much about it. I went in blind and really enjoyed how the story unfolded.

Thanks for the recommendation. The film is streaming on Hoopla!

I think I'm going to do a different theme for each day. Planning on doing a few TV series premiere movies for day 1 (and maybe mirroring it with series finales on the 31st). Kicking around ideas to fill out other days.

In an effort to include my wife in on the fun, my MYOC will be a Star Wars-centric Space Challenge. Main goals will be to watch all 11 films, and to finally check out Clone Wars.

I just dropped in to ask for the list thread to be stickied only to find it's already done! Whoever did that, THANKS!

I'm starting with a Star Trek: Deep Space 9 challenge. I've been participating in a Voyager thread on another forum and DS9 was mentioned. I realized it's been several years since I last watched the series. It's my 2nd favorite Trek series so I felt it's about time I did a rewatch.

Going with Spies Like CHUCK, for all spy related content, allowing me to watch Chuck with my wife. Maybe I'll finally get a chance to re-watch some Bond, the Kingsmen sequel I haven't seen yet, some oldies like The Pink Panther and In Like Flint films, among other things.

Yesterday I was tempted to buy the complete series of He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe ​​​​​​. Today I am glad I didn’t, because with no internet, I could only watch episodes on my phone. I’m pretty much limited to dish, dvds and using my phone to watch things today.

I think I finally figured out what I'll be doing this month: Disney+ and DVR. I plan on some sort of Star Wars marathon on the 4th, of course, though doubt I'll get through the 11 movies in just one day. But, pretty sure all of them are on Disney+, so while I probably won't bother streaming them, it should still be covered.

The DVR part is because I'm running out of room on in and have several shows I've been saving up for binging and didn't do much of last month when I was going through Picard and Discovery on the CBS app. I am looking forward to The Good Doctor. Have a season and a half of that I'm behind on...

Yes, they're all on Disney+.

Several months ago I finally caved and purchased a BR of the first 6 movies (tired of waiting for BRs of the unedited original theatrical versions of IV-VI and I already had BRs of the first 2 of the new trilogy and got the last from DMC on release date). Last weekend I watched SOLO, Rogue One, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, the prequel trilogy, and Return of the Jedi in that order. My thinking is you don't want to watch the prequel until after Empire... so you know who Darth Vader really is - don't spoil the surprise - and tread the prequel trilogy as a flash back. It works but...

SOLO and Rogue One are good lead-ins for the original trilogy (the events in SOLO are 10 years prior with Rogue One a direct lead-in). I enjoyed them more than the last time I watched them (although both have a few issues). The prequel trilogy is still horrible and hasn't improved with age. I can't see myself watching the prequel movies again any time soon (or even later). I still have the latest trilogy to watch so don't know how they'll hold up for me.

Good to know! I just haven't pushed the button on subscribing yet, but will within the next day or two.

I actually have the DVDs of the unedited ones. They had some with both versions, so I made sure to get those. Not as nice as BRs, but at least I have them in a decent format! I know I've heard of some fancy watching lists, where they kind of get all mixed up, but I'll probably start from I and go to IX, inserting Solo and Rogue One between III and IV. I know I've watched Phantom Menace at least 2 or 3 times, but I honestly think I've only watched the next two once. I remember them both being fairly horrible, so never desired to watch again. But, I think it's time!

I have copies of those same DVDs and normally watch them. I got a super deal on that 6 movie BR set (~$20) in like-new condition and couldn't pass it up. The best part with it is the Ewok Yub Nub song in Return... has been replaced with something much less annoying. It also looks much better than that DVD transfer (brighter and crisper) but I still don't like many of the changes/edits/additions to the movies, especially those in A New Hope. I'll likely still watch A New Hope on that DVD in the future but may watch the BR of the others as the changes on them don't bother me as much (other than using Christensen for Anakin in Return... - blech).

I forgot to mention that Disney+ also has all the Star Wars TV series in addition to the movies.

Yeah, so many of the changes were asinine. They just don't fit in with 70's/80's special effects and they stand out-in a bad way. Okay, you add the "bump" noise to the storm trooper when he hits his head, but why add special effects that don't match up with the original? I don't get it.

I did forget about those...I don't think I'll get to The Clone Wars but The Mandalorian is definitely on my list to watch!

I've made it through S1 of DS9 and started S2 this morning. That's looking good for getting through the entire series this month. Having 5 weekends will help.

Enjoying the opportunity to explore extras for some of my favorite films.

I've checked out all the supplemental material on the 20th anniversary release of The Fugitive and the Universal 100th anniversary BD of Jaws

I probably wouldn't revisit the commentary for The Fugitive (by the director and Tommy Lee Jones), but otherwise it's all been excellent.

I’m enjoying my challenge too. Seen some good documentaries on Dish, like Aerial America on the Smithsonian Channel, and I finished the main part of Blue Planet ​​​​​​. I’m on the bonus disc right now, and only have the two episodes of Being There left.

I have to admit, it took a while for the Clone Wars to grow on me, but when it did, wow. If only the prequels would have been more like the best of Clone Wars.

I just finished Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace. I remember enjoying it when it first came out, but now I realize why every time I plan on watching the prequels, I usually stop after it. It is way too long, so many scenes that just go on and on and on... A 9-year-old being the best pilot, even with Jedi powers, really? It's silly in places that really don't need it. Jar Jar Binks...

I will say, it is still visually pleasing. I remember in the theaters seeing the council with all those rows of hoover chairs/cars and still think that's pretty impressive.

I have the 2nd one queued up, I just have to get up the courage to push play. If I get through these 2, it should be easier to keep going, I think.

May the Fourth be with you!

Having finished Blue Planet​​​​​ last night, tonight I was ready to move on to my next series. I decided on Frozen Planet​​​​​​. In general BBC Nature documentaries have beautiful footage, but when you see them in HD, since this is one of the series I have on Blu Ray, it takes the beauty to a breathtaking level.

Five days in and my viewing count is zero. We started SW episode one on the first, with the plan to watch one a day with the first good one to be on May the Forth (be with you).

Well, just when Jar Jar is getting really annoying, some friends drive by with a care package and we have an impromptu visit in the parking lot. It was really nice to see some different faces and have some good (six foot distance) socialization. Come back inside 20 minutes later and realize that we forgot to pause the movie. We finish it, but I can’t bring myself to count it, and decide to start over the next day. Work and stuff stay busy and other projects are piling up for my days off.

Maybe I’m just overly stressed from this crazy pandemic, but I’m almost resigned to not watching TV this month and ending my multi year streak of completing my checklist.

Missed only 20 minutes of Episode 1? Count it... It's bloated by that much just with the pod race. If you feel you must watch it, just watch that 20 minutes you missed. Don't torture yourself with a full viewing...

DO...NOT... CAVE...

Doing something normal is good medicine.

The visuals are just about the only reasons I'll watch the prequel trilogy any more. They have soooo much padding with poorly written scripts, direction, and acting that I can barely tolerate them. IMHO that group of movies would count in the Drive-in/Exploitation/B Movie challenge were it not for the budgets...

Burned in my mind from the first moment I saw it on the big screen is the utterly inane line (in Attack of the Clones) spoken by Padmé to Anakin while on some big balcony, "I'm going back to Naboo [or whatever planet it was] to work on the baby's room." OMG, the LAMEST dialog! Maybe not the worst line, but it made me go "Oh! Come on!"